A/N: Thank you for the favorites and follows and reviews! I'm honored that this fanfic has garnered attention hehe. Replies to reviews can be seen at the bottom of this chapter, as I'm not someone who would rather PM a reply (I don't really check my email a lot to see if there are notifications regarding a PM reply or whatnot, so to not like, leave you guys hanging, this is the best resort).

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I own Letters to Juliet, and if anyone has had the same idea already, I apologize but I was unaware of it.

NOTE: This an AU, so it won't be focused too much on Fairy Tail as a guild. Also, Wendy will be closer to Lucy's age. For this story, all the characters will be about 23-24, while Wendy will be around 21 or 22.


Chapter 3


Lucy was having a pleasant day despite her fiancee's absence. She hadn't given up hope on being able to go sightseeing with Natsu, but with the man being constantly distracted by potential clients and new food, Lucy had busied herself with writing and with hanging out with the Secretaries of Juliet. The four girls had brightened up her mood considerably as they all shared stories about each other.

Lucy decided to settle down by a table near the window, the natural light from the sun motivating her to write. She wanted to write a novel or a short story, but inspiration just wasn't hitting her right now, so she had stuck to just writing ideas down for future use. She had just been writing an idea about a girl and her friends on an adventure to find this clock when a knock on the door of the room pulled her out of her thoughts. She directed her attention to the door and found a very tall and well-muscled man wearing a purple dress shirt, black pants, boots, and a fur coat. The man's hair was spiky and moved with him as he took a step forward into the room, his yellow eyes observing its occupants.

Cana, who was the closest to Lucy, leaned towards the blonde girl and smirked as she whispered, "I know you're engaged and all, but please tell me you agree when I say that man is fine."

Having gotten used to Cana's personality, Lucy only chuckled at her before redirecting her attention to the man by the door.

"You the Secretaries of Juliet?" he asked.

It was Erza who nodded at him and stood up. "Yes. Did you need something?"

The response made him click his tongue before he shoved a hand inside one of his pockets, retrieving a familiar sand colored letter. "I'd like to know which one of you had the genius idea to reply to my great-grandmother's letter."

Lucy gasped, an excited smile forming on her face. Her letter had made it to its recipient, and she was actually meeting someone related to Mavis! Lucy hadn't honestly expected much when she had sent the reply. Wendy and Mira agreed when they thought that while Mavis would have appreciated the response, it wasn't likely for the old woman to do anything about it. But here was the great-grandson, whose yellow eyes had focused on Lucy upon hearing her gasp.

Lucy stood up and walked towards the man with a smile. "That would be me."


He had tried arguing against his great-grandmother's impulsive decision to book the nearest ship to Magnolia regardless of the price the tickets would cost. He was sure she hadn't even thought of booking a hotel for them to stay in if they needed to.

"Oh, silly boy, go pack your bags if you're coming with me. If not, then let me be," she had told him while laughing, shooing him away from her room so that she could begin to pack. Even when the door had been locked after he had been pushed out, he had stared at the door with a shocked expression, unable to process his great-grandmother's way of thinking.

When he had snapped out of his shock, he grumbled before heading to his room to pack, as well. He was going to have to bail on Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed, but those three could survive without him. Despite what his great-grandmother may think, though, he would have to be the rational one during this trip, so she definitely needed him. Otherwise, who knew what kinds of things his great-grandmother would do? What if she found this Zeref person and decided to hang out again, or what if she didn't find this Zeref person and simply decided to go sightseeing in Magnolia? His great-grandmother was as random as any random person could get, so he wouldn't put it past her to do so without telling him.

So, a few hours later, he found himself on a ship to Magnolia with his smirking great-grandmother beside him.

"I knew you'd want to come along."

"Shut up, you old hag."

Of course, the ride hadn't lasted long, and he found himself following his great-grandmother, who seemed to remember the way to what she called 'Juliet's House' as if she had been a Magnolian local. They had reached their destination quickly and his great-grandmother had asked him to look for the secretary that had written the letter while she gazed at the letters stuck on the walls. Laxus sighed, telling the woman to be careful before letting her reminisce on her own.

He had asked a passerby for directions to wherever the secretaries of Juliet were, and he had been directed to a nearby restaurant just a block away, with instructions to enter it and to head to the second floor.

He had followed the instructions clearly and found himself standing in front of a room with an open door. He knew he was in the right place, though, because the door was labelled 'Secretaries of Juliet' in gold, cursive letters. He had knocked on the door, earning the attention of the five women inside the room.

The room had an elongated table filled with scattered piles of letters. Four women gathered around that table, with two women on each side. They all had loose sheets of paper with them, and seemed to be in the process of replying to letters. Definitely secretaries, then. His gaze then landed on a blonde woman by the window, who had been writing in a rather large, leather-bound notebook.

Deciding to get to the matter at hand, he asked for additional confirmation, "You the Secretaries of Juliet?"

It was a redheaded woman who nodded at him and stood up. "Yes. Did you need something?"

He clicked his tongue before retrieving the letter that had been sent to his grandmother. "I'd like to know which one of you had the genius idea to reply to my great-grandmother's letter."

It was the blonde woman who had gasped and stood up, walking towards him and smiling as she said, "That would be me."

If the situation were different, Laxus would probably have flirted with her. The woman was gorgeous, and her brown eyes were very inviting. Still, it was this woman who had caused all the unnecessary trouble for him, so he removed any thought of flirting with her. "Do you have any idea of how stupid you are, Blondie?"

The smile on her face quickly disappeared and was replaced by a confused and mildly offended look. "Excuse me? And 'Blondie'? You're blonde, too!"

"What exactly were you trying to accomplish by sending that letter? To give the old hag false hope that this dude she loved when she was a teenage was still alive and that she still had a chance with him?" Laxus told her. His irritation at the situation was coming out in his words, and he had no intentions of stopping. "Didn't you stop to think for one moment that the letter was so old and that my old hag probably settled down somewhere and had a family of her own?"

He could see that the blonde woman was shocked by his words. She opened her mouth, probably to defend her actions with some pathetic excuse about true love or shit like that, so he rolled his eyes before stuffing the letter back in his pocket and leaving. Despite his great-grandmother's wished, Laxus really didn't want to associate with the secretaries, especially the blonde one, because it was their response that had fueled this spontaneous trip. What did they even hope to achieve?

He scoffed and shook his head as he marched down the street, heading back to his great-grandmother. He found the old hag there in the position he had left her in, and it looked like she had been holding back tears. If he had known that just being in the area was already hurting her this much, he would have fought harder to prevent the trip from happening in the first place.

He fought the urge to sigh. Life had been just fine and normal a few hours ago. Why did the letter have to come?

He cleared his throat when he neared her. "Old hag, let's go. Maybe find somethin' to eat, too. Pretty sure I threw up whatever I ate when we were on that ship. I'm starving."

"Alright, dear." His words had at least brought out an amused laugh from her, and they moved to find a nearby restaurant — definitely not the one near the secretaries — before they found someone standing in front of them. Laxus groaned when he saw her; it was the blonde woman.

Speak of the devil.


The place hadn't changed much. The walls were just as they were years ago, when she had been a distraught teenager writing a letter for guidance, although she did notice that time had dulled the walls' colors. Mavis glanced at the colorful letter stuck on the walls, and her heart went out to the girls who were suffering, too. Mavis hoped they would all receive replies for advice; she felt that she was lucky enough that her own letter, which she had purposely hidden inside a brick in fear of her family finding it, was found and had received a prompt reply upon being found.

She glanced at one of the benches below the balcony of Juliet's house, remembering how she had sat there under the rain, crying as she wrote about how she was going to be leaving Zeref. Mavis sighed as she closed her eyes briefly.

Zeref.

Was he still alive? Was he married now? Had he forgotten about her? Or was he dead?

She winced at the thought and shook her head. No, she would rather he be happily married to one of the girls that had fawned over him years ago than to be dead. She wouldn't be able to take it if he was.

When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't surprised to notice that she had been tearing up. She was so close and yet so far. Could he even be found? Would he want to be found? Would he want to see her again?

Her saddening train of though would have continued had her great-grandson not arrived and cleared his throat, saying, "Old hag, let's go. Maybe find somethin' to eat, too. Pretty sure I threw up whatever I ate when we were on that ship. I'm starving."

"Alright, dear," she let out an amused laugh, eyes quickly drying up as he began to lead her down to a restaurant, only for them to pause at the sight of a curious blonde girl with brown eyes.

Her great-grandson groaned beside her, but she spoke before he could say anything else, "Yes?"

"Are you, perhaps, Mavis?" the blonde woman asked with a hesitant but determined smile.

"Yes, I am," Mavis replied, which caused the blonde woman to smile brightly. "And may I know who you are?"

"I'm Lucy. I'm the one who wrote you the letter," the blonde woman, Lucy, said shyly.

Mavis' eyes widened as she hurried over to Lucy with glee. She held Lucy's hands in her own. "Bless you, girl. I'd like to thank you so much for your letter. I… I hadn't expected a response at all."

"It was hidden for a reason, huh?" Lucy smiled.

"Indeed," Mavis returned the smile, much to her great-grandson's displeasure. She rolled her eyes at him before turning her attention to Lucy, "I'm sorry if Laxus didn't treat you well. He wasn't very supportive of me coming back to Magnolia."

"It shows," Lucy said dryly as she raised an eyebrow at Laxus.

This caused Mavis to laugh. "Truly. However, I must apologize once more. I'm afraid I'll have to cut this conversation short for a little while. Laxus is quite hungry. Would you happen to know a place?"

"Oh, yes!" Lucy said excitedly as she led them down to a quaint restaurant, and ushered them to a table. "I'll be right back. I'll just go call the other secretaries of Juliet. I'm sure you'd love to meet them!"

Mavis' eyes widened with excitement as she patiently waited for the bubbly blonde to return.

"We can eat somewhere else," Laxus offered, not even hiding his dislike for the blonde.

"I don't understand why you don't like her. She was perfectly pleasant."

"She wrote you a reply. That's why I don't like her."

"Now, Laxus—" but her incoming lecture had been cut off by the sounds of chattering. Mavis looked towards the staircase of the restaurant, where Lucy, followed by four other women, came down and headed towards them.

Lucy introduced the other women to her: Erza, the redhead; Cana, the brunette; Mirajane, the girl with white hair; and Wendy, the girl with blue hair, before they all ordered some food for them to enjoy.


"—and he the most beautiful smile," Mavis gushed to the people surrounding her on the table as she recounted how she had met her Zeref. Lucy found it adorable how, even after all this time, the woman had never forgotten her first love. It was a lucky feeling to have.

"Yes, but I wouldn't exist if you'd ended up with him, now I would I, you old hag?" Laxus grumbled, and Lucy shot a scowl at the older, taller blonde. He noticed her look and looked at her challengingly before Mavis pinched his arm, causing him to jump. "The hell was that for?"

"Be nice," Mavis said while clicking her tongue before turning to Lucy. "I can't thank you enough, Lucy. Your letter gave me reason to come back here."

"Yeah, and to go on a stupid, self-appointed quest to find him," Laxus added bitterly, addressing Lucy this time when he said, "And this is your fault, Blondie."

Lucy simply rolled her eyes at him.

"Would you like to come over to our hotel tomorrow morning, Lucy? I'd love to get to know you a little more before we start searching for Zeref," Mavis asked her, ignoring her great-grandson.

"Before you start searching for Zeref. I'm just going along in case you—" Laxus interjected, but was again ignored by both females.

"I'd love to!" Lucy grinned as she began to exchange contact details with Mavis.

Laxus just groaned in response.


A/N: Not sure if this was a good chapter :c but I hope it's to your liking! And I'm sorry it took me some time to update. It was a mix of writer's block and the fact that I went abroad + got sick when I got back.

P.S.: Shameless plug-in, but I just recently wrote a crossover fanfic for Kuroko no Basuke and Katekyo Hitman Reborn. It's about a fem!Kuroko being Tsuna's cousin and staying in Namimori for the summer (the summer before she starts Seirin). Pairing is Yamamoto Takeshi x fem! Kuroko Tetsuya. If you think this might be interesting, please do check it out! :)


REPLIES TO REVIEWS

(I hope I spelled your usernames correctly)

nightfall252524: True. I could consider Yukino hehe. Thank you for the suggestion!

Tiernank: I hope you liked how Laxus and Lucy interacted here! Laxus is a hard character to write :c

ROCKCHICK179: That's so nice to hear, thank you so much! But, I agree: I think Natsu would be the type to just focus on one goal and ignore everything else.

Guest (Apr 15): Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the wait!